City of Caverns
by Alastair
Summary: Vivi, Luffy, and Nami get separated from the others on the way to Rain Dinners.
1. The Passage

**City of Caverns**

_The Passage_

His arms crossed over his chest, Luffy gazed out over the desert landscape, his form, and hat all bundled into long robes. The wind was blowing sand and dust about, whipping it into the rock formations surrounding the two figures.

In fact, the entire opening was nearly blocked completely by the sandstorm tossing outside, and his lower lip stuck up before he turned around.

"I don't know where we are."

Nami looked up from their packs, "Huh? Of course not. We can't see out there because of the sandstorm, Luffy."

"But I dunno where we are either!"

"Like you'd know even if you could see out there!" Sniffing, she turned back to the three rucksacks, and said, "In any case, come away from there, and help me."

"Ah? What're you doing, Nami?"

"I'm trying to find our dinner. Sanji-kun packed us all something to eat for the trip, but I can't find them."

Luffy smiled, "Oh, those were real good!"

"Well, if Sanji-kun cooked them, I'm not surprised," she said before she paused over the packs.

It was quiet for a long time as Nami had froze, and Luffy reached up to pick his nose, watching her still form before looking back out to the entrance of the tunnel in the rock. The sand was still blocking out the sight of the outside, and the wind was all he could hear.

"Luffy …"

"Nah?" He looked over at her, seeing that she had turned around and risen to her feet.

"So."

"So?"

"You had your meal already, huh?"

"Yeah." He pulled out a booger to squish and roll it between thumb and forefinger, "They were good."

Nami wilted suddenly, falling to her knees, and dropped her face into her palms, "He wants to starve me. My captain wants to see me suffer and wither away into nothing in this hole …"

He jerked at that, "Heh!? You're turning into nothing!?"

"Hey, guys? Are we … able to leave now?"

Luffy looked up to see the flicker of the torch at the other end of the tunnel held by Vivi, and he said, "Nah. It's still stormy."

"Oh …"

Glancing over, Nami frowned, "What's wrong, Vivi?"

"Well, I was thinking," she was walking quickly through the tunnel toward them, and Luffy blinked, tilting his head at her slightly nervous air, "we could probably, you know? Charge right on through the sandstorm!"

Nami said, "Vivi, you're the one that told us to find a place to hide. You said it could filet our skin right off."

Vivi flushed a bit, not looking at either of them directly, "Yes, well, I might have been a little hasty. After all, we need to get to Rain Dinners as soon as we can. We can't let a little sand get in the way."

Luffy smiled, thrusting his fist into the air, "Right!"

The tunnel trembled around them suddenly, and he blinked, looking up at the ceiling of the tunnel. Frowning, Nami slowly stood up, "Is it … caving in?"

Dropping the torch, Vivi grabbed the bags then, starting to push Nami toward the entrance where Luffy was standing, "C'mon!"

"Hey, what …!?" Nami stumbled in the sand, taking Vivi down with her.

The tunnel trembled, and then crumbled down on top of Luffy.

"Aaa-! _Gh_!"

Gasping, Vivi coughed, and covered her head, a heap of dust and sand spilling into the rest of the tunnel, swooping over Nami and her in a hot, musty gush. She quivered, feeling a few small rocks strike her from the tunnel ceiling before it seemed to go quiet and still.

The two slowly looked up when the sand outside grew louder, baring more of the outside sandstorm to them. Vivi jumped to her feet, digging through the rubble before them where Luffy had been, "Luffy!"

"Vivi! Calm down, it's Luffy. He's fine."

"He didn't sound fine when the _mountain_ fell on top of him!"

Vivi twitched when the tunnel shifted slightly again.

Narrowing her eyes, Nami looked from her to the tunnel to the rubble before she whispered softly, "Well, he … doesn't seem to be moving."

The princess began digging into the pile of rock on again. Nami grabbed their bags, and put one on before she helped Vivi with the excavation. She lifted one stone when a huge gust of breath and dust hit her face, "Paah! Vivi? Nami?"

Nami twitched before she punched him.

"Nami-san!?" Vivi gaped at her, looking between Nami and the visible mouth of Luffy in the rubble.

"His breath smells so good … Sanji-kun really did make a wonderful meal …!"

"Geugh!" Luffy sat up, scattering rocks everywhere as he did, and he shook his head hard before patting his head. Upon finding it bare, he reached into the rocks before popping his hat onto his head again, "Shishi! Thanks, guys!"

"Ah … Luffy-san, Nami-san, we can't stay here long."

"You're telling me," Nami said with a sigh before she stood up. "Let's get out of this tunnel before it collapses again." She frowned at Vivi, "And _not_ out into the sandstorm which would rip us to shreds."

Vivi's lips bunched up slightly before taking her bag up and rising to her feet, "All right, but just out of this passage. We don't need to go any deeper than the second hallway."

Luffy perked, "It goes deeper?"

"Hallway?"

With a beaming grin, Luffy ran between them to the end of the long tunnel, "Sounds fun!"

Cringing, Vivi picked up his bag as Nami started to go after him, "Luffy, hush! The tunnel could collapse!"

"You're being louder'n me!"

"You're much louder than me, Luffy!"

Vivi sweated slightly as she followed them, "You're both too loud …"

She paused long enough to pick up the torch she had dropped, glad that it was still lit even after all that dust.

Nami stopped at the end to look back at her, "Vivi? Hurry up." Swallowing nothing, she tried to walk faster. "Luffy! Slow down! You can't see what's in front of you without any light, idiot!"

"Luffy-san, please, stay with us!" Vivi sped up, jogging a bit to them. A few steps out of the passageway, it groaned and shuddered, and she gasped, looking back at it as their entire way out began to close in completely, "Oh! No! No, no, no! Don't do that, please!"

"Vivi!" She jerked slightly when a rubbery arm wrapped around her, whisking her through the hall and into Luffy's chest.

Blinking, disoriented, she stared at where she had been standing as the tunnel closed over it before settling.

Nami frowned down at her, "What do you think you were doing?"

"It closed up!"

"It could have closed up on you, Vivi!"

Vivi broke away from Luffy, staggering slightly toward where the tunnel had caved in, "But that's the only way out!"

Gaping, Nami grabbed her shoulder, "What do you mean 'the only way out'!? You said this was a hallway! That means there should be tons of ways out of here. This wasn't even really a door anyway, Vivi."

She turned to her, frowning, "It's the only way out because I'm not going any deeper. The only other entrance is down south, and that'll just make our journey that much longer!"

"You're lying."

Eyes widening, Vivi stared at Luffy as his lips turned up in the middle with his deep frown, "I …"

"You just don't wanna have an adventure!"

"Luffy! That's not it! She needs to go save her kingdom, idiot!"

Vivi slowly relaxed biting her lip, "Ah, yes …"

"Okay, so there's no way we can go out that way. It's too unstable and it could crush us," said Nami, pouting at the rubble.

"Ah? It won't crush _me_!"

"That's because you're not normal!" Nami faced Vivi then, "We'd be pulverized! We need to find something like … a crack somewhere along the walls. Luffy can break us out quick as he can, right?"

"Right!" Luffy pumped his fist into the air.

"But we'll have to wait for the sandstorm to stop."

Vivi chewed on her lip nervously, and cocked her head slightly, "It's still blowing out there … I can hear the whole mountain groaning …"

Grinning, Luffy said, "Shishishi! It sounds like a big snoring giant!"

Nami frowned, "Groaning? Vivi, maybe there are more openings. We wouldn't hear sounds like that otherwise."

She shivered, and said, "Ah, well … maybe … But I – I know there's no other way in here! We can't go south!"

"We can't stay here though. This place could collapse too …" Nami's eyes focused on Vivi before she slowly said, "Are you going to tell us what's wrong now?"

Vivi twitched back a bit, and stared at Nami before she gradually bent her head forward, "Well … There really is only one exit I know of, but … but the others are all hidden in mazes and traps! It could take hours or even days to get through them all! We don't have that kind of time! And even worse … I don't know when this storm will stop. Sandstorms can last a long time. Even if we find a way out of here, we'd have to wait for it to stop."

Luffy grinned, "We'll just find a way out of here."

"But that's not why you wanted to leave so soon!" Nami stepped up before her, "You really are hiding something."

"It's called the City of Caverns." Vivi raised her torch to the wall, illuminating the inscriptions there, "One of my great-great- … great-great grandmothers ruled here. When she died, she left orders to her people to abandon the city so she could rest her body in her palace, and make it her tomb."

"What?" Nami frowned, "That's ridiculous! Why did they listen to her?"

"They didn't! They tried to just build her a temple to house her body, but the … the stories say she grew angry and cursed the city! She came back, causing droughts and starving hundreds of thousands before they gave in! The moment they moved her body, and started burying her, it finally rained, so they swore to board up the palace and city … She really did make the entire city her tomb, and so the people buried it all …"

"Vivi … you don't believe that hokey, do you?"

She jerked up straight, "I just don't want to curse my people any more than what's been done!"

"If they buried the whole place, then why's there a hallway here then?" Nami said, grinning.

Vivi blinked, and looked around, "Well … it says here that this is her city, and the stories say it was buried."

"So stop worrying. A story's a story."

She frowned a bit before slowly smiling, "Heh, I guess you're right …"

"We're not getting anywhere standing here any …" Eyes narrowing, Nami looked down the hall, "Where'd Luffy go?"

!#$%^&*()_+

_OKAY. This time I feel more like writing this. So just review or whatnot._

_Early Happy Halloween._


	2. The Hall

**City of Caverns**

_The Hall_

"Luffy!?"

"Luffy-saaan! We told you not to run off!"

Groaning, Nami stomped down the hall with a huff, "Ugh! That idiot! This really isn't the time to have fun and games! Luffy! Come back here!"

When they heard no answer back, Vivi began to fret, walking after Nami, and holding her torch tight, "Ah … Luffy-san?"

Nami snapped at her, "Quit being so superstitious! There's no such thing as ghosts!"

At the end of the hallway, they turned the corner, and Vivi frowned. The torch light extended further out, but did not touch any walls, revealing that the hallway had opened up into a bigger space. She stepped closer to Nami, "Luffy-san …? Please, don't scare us! Where did you go!?"

Nami frowned, looking up at the ceiling that they couldn't see, "He probably can't hear us … but that sandstorm's still pretty loud even here – it must be too loud wherever he is … Why can't he ever listen to me?"

"Nami-san, he listens to you … sometimes …"

She pursed her lips before turning away with a sigh, "He's not listening now."

A torch flickered to life, illuminating a pillar further away from them. Vivi froze, staring at it while Nami squinted ahead, "Nami-san …"

"I … I don't see anyone over there."

Another torch lit up near it, attached to another pillar, and more began to illuminate, revealing the long rows of pillars on either side of the long room.

"Nami-san …!"

"It's just a trick! Ace! I bet Ace followed us, and is playing one big trick on us with Luffy!"

Tearing up, Vivi said, "You're just pulling at strings here!"

"Nothing else makes any sense! Fire doesn't light by itself unless you're some kind of Devil Fruit user! It has to be him!"

Vivi, clutched tighter to her torch, "But he left a long time ago, Nami-san!"

Something moved between the lighted pillars, dancing across the dark shadows cast across the walls. They froze, watching the figure before it then paused, and then moved as if to face them, looking back.

Nami whispered, "Luffy …? Is that you?"

"_Nyaaakakakaka_!"

!#$%^&*()_+

Luffy blinked, and tilted his head, staring at the blue-haired woman across the room.

It was pitch black, but he could see her clearly as if stepping out from ink and into his view. She wore a clean, white linen skirt that reached the floor, and nothing else.

He crossed his arms, staring at her chest.

After all, he could not shout at her, and ask her why she was naked – she wore a skirt – but he'd never seen a woman walk about without a top on before. Luffy scratched his cheek, eyes shifting to watch her breasts as she kept coming closer.

Suddenly, he smiled, plopping a fist into his palm, and she paused.

"That's it!" She slowly raised a brow at him, and he said, "You look just like Vivi, but your boobs're smaller! You must walk around without a shirt so people can tell you apart!"

She hissed, leaning in, and seeming to loom over him before she vanished. Blinking rapidly, he stared as the hall around him lit up before he glanced about for her.

"Ah? Aah …? Hm, she's real fast …"

"_Nyaaakakakaka_!" He nearly jumped, and he turned around to face the strange shrieking laughter. Nami and Vivi were cowering away, nearly stumbling on each other's feet as the woman loomed over them. "_Get out of my tomb_!"

Scowling, Luffy burst into a run, stretching his arms back, "Gomu Gomu no …!"

She vanished, and he gasped, skidding to a halt in front of the two women before carefully snapping his arms back into place so he wouldn't hit them instead. Luffy turned about, looking around the hall.

"Luffy! Where the hell have you been!?"

"Damn it! She got away! That small boobed Vivi …" Vivi flushed bright red before she punched Luffy in the back of the head, "Hyeegh!" Turning, he held his head, pouting at her, "Vivi!? What'd you do that for!?"

"Why were you looking at her chest!?"

Frowning, he pointed off down the large chamber toward where he had been, "She ain't wearing a shirt! That's why!"

Vivi frowned, and opened her mouth, but Nami said, "Vivi, who was that anyway? It … it couldn't be …"

Vivi bit her lip before lowering her head, "I believe that … it was her."

Gradually getting to her feet, Nami said, "She looked a lot like you."

"Well, she is a relative of mine."

"She's got smaller tits."

!#$%^&*()_+

Luffy pouted, rubbing his bruised face as he tottered after Nami and Vivi. He and Nami had each taken a torch for themselves from the pillars. The grand hall that they were in had yet to end, but the torches on the pillars had run out, leaving the rest of the hall in darkness.

Sometimes, he glanced back to squint at the small beacon of warm light behind them, but it seemed no further away than it had been the last time he had looked.

"Nami!"

She jumped, looking at him, "Huh!? What is it?"

"I'm tired!" He whined.

"Just shut up, and walk!"

He blinked, looking out to the pillars where something had flickered out of the corner of his eyes, and he stopped walking.

Nami stopped, scowling at him as she put a hand on her hip – her robe over her shoulder since she had complained about the heat, "What're you doing? Quit looking for flashes of flesh, and walk, you perv."

Luffy frowned at her as Vivi stopped to look at them, "I thought I saw something."

"Jus – Just keep walking, and then we won't have to see something anymore," she said with a slight blush.

Vivi wrung her torch, "Come on, Luffy. It shouldn't be much further."

"But we ain't getting any further away."

"Huh?"

He pointed back at the warm glow of the hall far behind them, "It's not moving."

Even in the dark, Luffy could see as Vivi paled, covering her mouth with a gasp, "We've been moving though … For a while now too, right?"

"Yeah, but I think he's right. This room couldn't really be this long, could it?" Nami said softly.

"_Nyaakakaka_!"

Luffy jerked toward the sound of the laughter before scowling at the sight of the woman amongst the pillars, and he gave chase, "Hey! Get over here!"

"Luffy-san! Don't leave us again!" Vivi ran after them with Nami following.

"Idiot! You can't just chase after ghosts and leave us in the dark!"

Luffy snorted out his nose, growling out as he weaved through the pillars after her, "Come back here, small boobs!"

"Quit calling her that!"

"_Nyaaaa_!" The woman turned back to rush Luffy, slamming him into a wall of hieroglyphics before she disappeared into nothing.

Panting, Vivi and Nami stopped before him, and Vivi knelt down, "Luffy-san!"

Groaning, he reached up shakily to grasp his shoulder, "Damn …"

"Eh? She hurt you?" Nami crouched down to gently touch his shoulder only for Luffy to curl away with an anguished cry. "She really hurt you!?"

Grunting, he sat up, holding his shoulder before looking back at them with a tight grin, "Sorry … for leavin' ya behind, guys. I just don't want us all stuck here anymore."

Vivi's brow turned down before she leaned over to face him closer, "Just stay with us and we'll all find a way out. There's no point in you running off alone and leaving us."

Luffy stared at her before he bared his teeth, pinching her cheek, "Oi, oi, quit that, or I'll hit you again."

She winced slightly before pulling away, rubbing her cheek, "That still hurts, you know."

"Good!" He grinned before he got up, bracing himself against the wall before it crumbled, and he fell through it, "Wah!" His face landed in the dirty ground before he sat up on his knees, holding his scraped up face, "Shit …"

Nami shoved him out of the way, "A tunnel!"

Luffy grunted, huffing as the two ventured inside, and Vivi said, "Maybe she's showing us a way out?"

Sitting up, Luffy said with a frown, and holding his shoulder, "Why would she go an' do that?"

"Well, we're going nowhere out here. Might as well go down this way," Nami said, starting to walk through, gently touching the wall of the tunnel. "Oh … there's markings here too." Vivi looked up at them before she began to frown in worry, standing to make the hieroglyphs brighter. Nami said, "What is it?"

"These don't look like part of the other inscriptions," she said, fingers gently tracing over the scrawl. "It's a newer writing system … 'Don't … stop.'"

Nami paled, "Let's – let's go then. Maybe it's a warning. Just keep moving, and she shouldn't bug us too much."

"Ueh …" Luffy winced, clutching his shoulder tighter.

"Luffy-san, we have to keep moving, okay?" Vivi frowned when he didn't budge, so she gently grasped his arm, "Lu–"

"Aagh!"

Gasping, Nami knelt down with them, "Luffy!? It still hurts? How could she hurt you when you're rubber? She's just some ghost!"

"It's …" Grunting, one of his eyes squished shut tight, and he ground his teeth, "goin' numb …"

Nami began to frown, "But you're …"

"I can't move it," he said, "but the pain keeps … spreading."

!#$%^&*()_+

_Doing a quick upload. I can't post in the morning anymore like I used to be able, but you can wait._

**OP-fan188989:** who the hell are you

**Kaydreams:** Hah, what. You thinking this is _The Island of Meat_ again?

**wheathermangohanssj4:** First chapters need p0rn.

**Darth Hawk 32:** Of course.

**Saint Dezzie:** Will do.

**Confession68:** Pissant.


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